Two things are clear to me after watching a new clip from next week's ep of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. First, the show isn't shying away from its recent dive into nerds-only territory. Second, Derek Reese is about to snap.

The clip builds on the bizarre conversation Derek (Brian Austin Green) had with Jesse (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen) last week about time travel. He suggested that they might have each come from two different cyborg-infested future realities. (Yeah, like I said, it's nerdy). Now, Derek seems more paranoid than ever while talking to John (Thomas Dekker) about the mysterious three dots. We already know that Derek tried to kill himself once before. Is he headed for another breakdown? Monday can't come soon enough.

The last few episodes of Sarah Connor have been some of the best genre TV I've seen all year. It's a shame that the show probably won't be renewed for a third season. I know I'm being pessimistic here, but the writing seems to be on the wall.

(S02E09) You'd think that eliminating Cromartie would end all the Connors' troubles, but apparently, Cromartie isn't necessarily gone (he's still appearing in dream sequences) and all the troubles continue.

I consider myself to have at least average intelligence, but tonight's episode had me confused. What was the significance of Sarah touching the three dripping blood dots on the wall at the end? Is it just something to make Sarah and the audience cogitate further on the mystery behind them?

On a side note, I was very glad they tortured the real Charles Fisher (Fischer?) and threw him in jail. I'm still pissed off at him for killing Tara back when he was Warren.

My first question is: why does Skynet even take human allies? I thought the goals of the machine were to exterminate all humans and set up a more organized and logical society (on a sad note, I know people who agree with at least one of those goals). Is the idea that humans know how to torture other humans better than machines do?

(S02E08) There was an interesting framing technique used in this episode. "Sarah's Story" gave way to "Cameron's Story" and so on. Each one happening simultaneously and ultimately coming together to tell a very complete story. I'm a sucker for creative storytelling, so I was all on board with this experiment. In fact, they sacrificed the intro sequence for the story.

I'm not sure if that's a sign that they think there's no need to explain the premise anymore, or just that there was no room for it tonight. We know we're signed up for a full season, and if the show can maintain at least most of its current viewership, it might just be able to survive in the ratings wasteland of Friday night. Unfortunately, it looks like its going to go up against CBS's Ghost Whisperer, generating tremendous buzz with its latest twist.Still, even that isn't as tough as the ridiculously stiff competition on Monday. In fact, FOX is going to make it even worse by dropping House in Sarah Connor's timeslot, followed by 24 come January.

(S02E07) Well, there's definitely a split between the terminators in the future. Even though Cromartie is after the Connors, he destroyed the Ellison model that was sent to replace the original, explaining by saying that Skynet didn't have the faith in the real Ellison to deliver the Connors the way Cromartie did. I'm still not sure what he meant by that. But then later, Weaver seemed genuinely intrigued by this turn of events as well, even asking Ellison if he knows why the T-Ellison may have been sent.

Meanwhile, Cromartie draws closer and closer to deducing the current location of the Connors in his own quest to find them, even enlisting some help from a former "friend" of Allison's Cameron's. This episode was pretty light on the time travel elements, which helped minimize the potential headaches in watching it and trying to figure out how the hell it all connects, but pretty high on the entertainment.

(S02E06) Much of Catherine Weaver's backstory was told in this episode. We have learned that the T-1001 (presumably) killed and replaced the original Catherine Weaver and her husband. Although for some reason we have yet to learn she left the daughter Savannah alive.

On the other hand, we still don't know the T-1001's motivations. She has no problem committing murder, as seen in her first appearance. The T-1001 nearly encountered John tonight, so we're still in the dark as to whether her mission is to terminate him (as with all the other Terminators) or something else entirely. If she encounters John and doesn't try to kill him, then she may be part of that cyborg contingent that has some other objective that was seen in the first season.

(S02E05) The game of time-travel chess continues. It seems that whenever Sarah and the gang foil one Terminator plot, another two crop up in its place (or they fulfill some sort of objective from Skynet and bring things one step closer to Judgement Day).

Observations from tonight's episode:

How did Reese get the credentials to teach at the military school? I know being from the future gives one access to certain information, but it seems a stretch.

Remember all of the interest over the summer about whether or not FOX was going to keep The Sarah Connor Chronicles or cancel it after one season like they do with so many fan favorites? Well, how come you're not watching the show?

There are reports swirling around that the network is going to cancel the Monday night show because of bad ratings, ratings that worse than FOX expected. The show is averaging a 4.1/6, which means it's down 34% from last year. Even the 18-49 demo loved by networks and advertisers aren't watching the show. When the geeks science fiction enthusiasts aren't watching the show, you know you're in trouble.

I have to admit I've drifted away from the show. There are just too many shows to watch and towards the end of the first season I sort of decided to not want to follow this story anymore (same thing is happening with Fringe). Anyone else there stop watching this show after the first season?

(S02E04) This story focused more on the individual members of the Connor team, particularly Cameron. I was glad about this for two reasons. First, more Summer Glau. Second, I think the flash forwards make for very good, interesting episodes.

At first, I was a little taken aback by Cameron's display of emotions. Since when can Terminators shed tears? I suppose it sort of makes sense given that she's an infiltration unit, but it seems kind of a stretch.

(S03E03) Is it me, or have the Terminators gotten more sophisticated since Arnold's day? Arnold never would have set a trap. He would have just pursued until terminated.

The opening of this episode was reminiscent of the closing of the first Terminator movie when Linda Hamilton was driving in the desert.

It's funny how the actor whose life Cromartie stole ended up being (sort of) famous. Usually they try to keep a low profile. Also, despite being the future savior of humanity, John Connor is not above stealing cable. This is a lesson for the rest of us.

(S02E02) The plot for the series has become convoluted very quickly. I take that as a good thing since it means the series can potentially last a few years. My favorite part remains the flash forward in this episode, brief as it was. The rest of it was good but not particularly memorable.

Who else spotted Busy Philipps as the pregnant landlady? I keep wondering if the kid is James Franco's from her previous series. I admit she's looking a bit chunkier in the face and I'm wondering if that's make-up for the character pregnancy or the effect of her real-life pregnancy.

Time travel has certainly become a revolving door in this show. It used to be more difficult now people are falling through time-doors that are powered by jet engines much more easily. Maybe they've improved the technology in the future. This is getting to be a bigger time war than the one in Doctor Who.

(S02E01) Last season ended with a bang. More specifically, Cameron in the middle of a bang when the SUV she was occupying exploded. The new series begins with music by the series composer Bear McCreary and vocalized by the lead singer of Garbage, Shirley Manson (who appears later in the episode as ZeiraCorp CEO Catherine Weaver, a new major player).

The show had good ratings the first season, but only nine episodes. Both of these can be attributed to the WGA Strike, which both cut down the available episodes and gave the show no competition. If it does well this season in the ratings, then we'll be seeing more killer robots in the future.

After the mid-day lunch/writing break, FOX jam-packed events into the rest of the afternoon and evening, not leaving much time to breathe, much less stop and type a blog post. One of the more noteworthy sessions after the break was for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Note that I said "noteworthy," not "interesting." Why? Because not much in the way of news came out of it. Still, a few things were thrown out by the producers and stars that may pique a fan's interest.

First of all: The show will have more self-contained episodes this year. Why? Executive producer John Wirth had a very succinct answer to that: "Because we wanted to."

We here at TV Squad are sometimes privy to top secret industry information (information if revealed in public would result in our spontaneous beheading). Other times, we're just given the press release.

That being said, the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will begin on Monday, September 8th at 8 p.m. I'll wait while you run to the DVR to set the record time. Fox is also planning to run a season one marathon leading up to the premiere (the DVD is set for release on August 19th).

Returning actors include Lena Headey, Summer Glau, Thomas Dekker, Richard T. Jones and Brian Austin Green. New cast members include Shirley Manson, who plays a tech company CEO, and Leven Rambin as a possible love interest for John Connor.

Season one of the show had to be cut short due to the writer's strike (and had a somewhat unsatisfying cliffhanger), but there were some real gems of episodes. I'm looking forward to season two.